synthet1c
my dmx doesn't have any s2l so latency doesn't really apply, but when i hit cues it changes straight away, but not the best at responding to midi fader movements as there's a slight delay but I suppose everything is like that.
Posted Tue 16 Nov 10 @ 4:24 am
hippydog
The DMX protocol itself has an enherent latency, plus the lights themselves.. Moving heads, Colorchangers (with scolling wheels), scanners etc etc are not really able to really "trigger" correctly on a beat..
This was why I always said that it was important for Freestyler to trigger on an actual BPM and not S2L..
With a steady BPM (which the CBG DOES supply) the "latency" doesnt look so bad,
Whereas with S2L (which only seems to be really steady on stuff like house music with a very pronounced bass beat), it noticeably shows the latency of any system (or lights)..
The only way to compensate for this is if a programmer made an S2L DMX application that compensated for the delay for EACH type of light..
Problem with that is it would change how almost ALL of the DMX software and hardware runs (IE: scene 1, then scene 2, then scene 3)
Thing is.. almost all lighting software still follows the way of the "Theater" (scene 1 + scene 2 + scene 3, etc)
which isnt really how most DJ's run their lights (or it doesnt 'translate' as easy to what WE want to happen)
matter of fact, the first lighting software I saw that came up with a really good S2L was Sunlite DMX.... and I think that was just 4 years ago..
This was why I always said that it was important for Freestyler to trigger on an actual BPM and not S2L..
With a steady BPM (which the CBG DOES supply) the "latency" doesnt look so bad,
Whereas with S2L (which only seems to be really steady on stuff like house music with a very pronounced bass beat), it noticeably shows the latency of any system (or lights)..
The only way to compensate for this is if a programmer made an S2L DMX application that compensated for the delay for EACH type of light..
Problem with that is it would change how almost ALL of the DMX software and hardware runs (IE: scene 1, then scene 2, then scene 3)
Thing is.. almost all lighting software still follows the way of the "Theater" (scene 1 + scene 2 + scene 3, etc)
which isnt really how most DJ's run their lights (or it doesnt 'translate' as easy to what WE want to happen)
matter of fact, the first lighting software I saw that came up with a really good S2L was Sunlite DMX.... and I think that was just 4 years ago..
Posted Tue 16 Nov 10 @ 9:20 am
SBDJ
OK; this plugin is being released as multiple plugins providing different aspects of the functionality. This way I can separate the processing out into multiple threads to improve performance without risking a crash from multithreaded GetInfo() calling.
Stage 1 has been uploaded for approval. This plugin is called "SBDJ FreeStyler S2L" and translates the CBG grid to S2L triggers.
The plugin will automatically install to the 'Others' folder, and you can find it in this plugin area within VDJ.
Stage 1 has been uploaded for approval. This plugin is called "SBDJ FreeStyler S2L" and translates the CBG grid to S2L triggers.
The plugin will automatically install to the 'Others' folder, and you can find it in this plugin area within VDJ.
Posted Wed 24 Nov 10 @ 2:50 pm
leighfromnz
SBDJ thanks heaps for putting the time into this. Another great leap forward for VDJ functionality thanks to voluntary community members. You are an absolute legend!! Will let you know how it goes on my system.
Posted Wed 24 Nov 10 @ 3:06 pm
leighfromnz
How long does it usually take before you can download it, or am I looking in the wrong place?
Posted Wed 24 Nov 10 @ 9:47 pm
SBDJ
Plugin has been approved:
http://www.virtualdj.com/addons/12272/SBDJ_FreeStyler_S2L.html
http://www.virtualdj.com/addons/12272/SBDJ_FreeStyler_S2L.html
Posted Fri 26 Nov 10 @ 8:59 am
andytaylor125
Thanks for the plug in, can't wait to download shortly.
Posted Fri 26 Nov 10 @ 12:56 pm
djdad
Scott can you give us some more infos on how to setup this plugin including some Freestyler settings. Do we have to connect any cables, or is it internal ?
I am not used to Freestyler so i am a newbie to this.
I am not used to Freestyler so i am a newbie to this.
Posted Sat 27 Nov 10 @ 11:46 am
SBDJ
It's all internal :)
I'm not a freestyler user either; I use my own DMX application that I've written - however I wrote my application to support the FS API so I can use my FS plugins with it.
Basically all this plugin is for is to trigger Freestylers Sound2Light function in time with the VDJ CBG grid.
In FreeStyler you click the speaker icon (Sound to light) and two windows will open. The large one - "Sound 2 Light" - is what translates sound to triggers in Freestyler. You can close this as you don't need it now. The second window configures what happens every time you send a trigger to Freestyler - Random DMX value generated, or jump to next step.
When you enable the "Pass Beats" option in my plugin, it will send FreeStyler triggers on every beat. The Freestyler side of things could probably be explained better by a FreeStyler user.
I'm not a freestyler user either; I use my own DMX application that I've written - however I wrote my application to support the FS API so I can use my FS plugins with it.
Basically all this plugin is for is to trigger Freestylers Sound2Light function in time with the VDJ CBG grid.
In FreeStyler you click the speaker icon (Sound to light) and two windows will open. The large one - "Sound 2 Light" - is what translates sound to triggers in Freestyler. You can close this as you don't need it now. The second window configures what happens every time you send a trigger to Freestyler - Random DMX value generated, or jump to next step.
When you enable the "Pass Beats" option in my plugin, it will send FreeStyler triggers on every beat. The Freestyler side of things could probably be explained better by a FreeStyler user.
Posted Sat 27 Nov 10 @ 12:21 pm
djdad
Its working !. Thanks. Now i need to learn Freestyler..lol
[EDIT] Quite affordable latency almost 1/8 beat. Working good.
[EDIT] Quite affordable latency almost 1/8 beat. Working good.
Posted Sat 27 Nov 10 @ 12:33 pm
SBDJ
I could try and add a phase option so you could adjust where my plugin sees a 'beat' and offset it to reduce latency further.
Posted Sat 27 Nov 10 @ 1:29 pm
the SOUND INSURGENT
OK so all I need is some DMX lighting and one of those DMX boxes that plugs into my laptop, learn to use FreeStyler and I'm good to go, right? If I missed anything let me know cause I'm going shopping!!
Huey
Huey
Posted Sat 27 Nov 10 @ 1:50 pm
djdad
SBDJ wrote :
I could try and add a phase option so you could adjust where my plugin sees a 'beat' and offset it to reduce latency further.
That would be very usefull !
Could you also add a parameter to multiply the cbg frequency (quantity) ? X2 times , X4 times, etc ?
Posted Sat 27 Nov 10 @ 2:24 pm
djdad
beatbreaker1 wrote :
OK so all I need is some DMX lighting and one of those DMX boxes that plugs into my laptop, learn to use FreeStyler and I'm good to go, right? If I missed anything let me know cause I'm going shopping!!
Huey
Huey
That's right. I think that Freestyle supports almost all the available DMX USB interfaces. I use ENTTEC Pro, but you can find cheaper.
Posted Sat 27 Nov 10 @ 2:26 pm
djdad
Scott, underneath those 3 buttons, i get no parametrs or anything else, is that ok?
I can understand what Pass beats is, but what are the other 2 buttons actually doing, especailly that Remember options button. What options?
I can understand what Pass beats is, but what are the other 2 buttons actually doing, especailly that Remember options button. What options?
Posted Sat 27 Nov 10 @ 4:34 pm
the SOUND INSURGENT
Thanks DJDAD I was actully looking at the "myDMX" box. Its about 100bucks more then yours but I dont really know whats the difference yet. This is a new chapter for me. I only do clubs and they already have lights so I never needed any but after Scott made mention of this plugin I started looking into what could be done and I'm on it!! Lol!
Thanks for the time
Huey
Thanks for the time
Huey
Posted Sat 27 Nov 10 @ 5:45 pm
SBDJ
djdad wrote :
Scott, underneath those 3 buttons, i get no parametrs or anything else, is that ok?
I can understand what Pass beats is, but what are the other 2 buttons actually doing, especailly that Remember options button. What options?
I can understand what Pass beats is, but what are the other 2 buttons actually doing, especailly that Remember options button. What options?
Refind FreeStyler forces the plugin to look for FreeStyler again. If you close FreeStyler (then reopen it) it will have a different handle. My plugin should automatically work this out - but this is a manual force in case that doesn't happen. Hopefully it should never be needed.
The remember option is simple - by default Pass Beats is always off and you enable it when you want to use it. If 'Remember' is enabled, then the plugin will remember the pass beats state. So if you enable both options, VDJ will always pass the CBG to freestyler without you having to remember to enable it.
Posted Sat 27 Nov 10 @ 8:44 pm
mp3jrick
Scott
This is an awesome plug in, works great here.
I use this in both standard submaster and s2l mode and would there fore be switching "Pass" on and off between slow sets and dance sets.
Is there a script to turn this off with a shortcut you know of?
I screwed around yesterday trying to figure this out and got blank stares and syntax errors.
The other thing I found is when switching it off, it leaves FS frozen in the steps so the scenes no longer transit based on the per second time setting.
Is there a way to force it back to timed scenes?
I am having to go back to FS and change the scene cue manually to get it working again.
Good Chob man
r
Edit: It might be a good idea to include a text doc with this to offer some instructions and identification to the features and how it works.
This is an awesome plug in, works great here.
I use this in both standard submaster and s2l mode and would there fore be switching "Pass" on and off between slow sets and dance sets.
Is there a script to turn this off with a shortcut you know of?
I screwed around yesterday trying to figure this out and got blank stares and syntax errors.
The other thing I found is when switching it off, it leaves FS frozen in the steps so the scenes no longer transit based on the per second time setting.
Is there a way to force it back to timed scenes?
I am having to go back to FS and change the scene cue manually to get it working again.
Good Chob man
r
Edit: It might be a good idea to include a text doc with this to offer some instructions and identification to the features and how it works.
Posted Sun 28 Nov 10 @ 5:39 am
SBDJ
Unfortunately VDJ doesn't give any VDJScript options for plugins in the 'Others' class AFAIK. Maybe it's worth asking Stef to add it going forwards as it saves a plugin from continually polling VDJ.
Luckily it's easy to work around for now, so I'll add it for you :)
Any chance you could tell me exactly what setting you have to change in FS to get it working afterwards?
I'll put together a little text doc with the updated version.
Luckily it's easy to work around for now, so I'll add it for you :)
Any chance you could tell me exactly what setting you have to change in FS to get it working afterwards?
I'll put together a little text doc with the updated version.
Posted Sun 28 Nov 10 @ 5:47 am
mp3jrick
I just have to go back to the interface and re select the "run" button on the sub master I am running or change up the scene, but I could be running 2-3 of them at a time also.
Posted Sun 28 Nov 10 @ 6:43 am
